Since 1978 the total
number of employed persons in China increased from about 400 to 768
million. (There was obviously some change in the definition of
employment between 1989 and 1990, when the number of employed persons
jumped by almost 100 million - from 557 to 653 million.

Employment in the primary
industries, such as agriculture and mining, and in secondary
industries (such as iron and steel production, manufacturing,
construction, etc.) remained almost constant since 1995. However, the
number of employed persons in service industries increased rapidly -
from only 48 million in 1978 to 230 million in 2004. Today, in China
more people are working in the service sector, than in manufacturing
and heavy industries. This indicates that China's rapid economic
transformation from an agricultural to an industrial society is
already succeeded by the transition to a service-oriented economy.